The legal definition of reasonable doubt,”A standard of proof that must be surpassed to convict an accused in a criminal proceeding.”(Rollin M. Perkins). Reasonable doubt is used in criminal trials to make sure that the jurors are absolutely sure that him/her did commit the crime and that they will not accidentally send an innocent man to jail. The play “twelve angry men” is about a young boy who is being convicted of stabbing his father to death. The boy is put in front of a 12 jurors, thoses jurors have never met the boy and must decide if he actually killed his own father based off of the evidence given to the court. Which ever side whether it is the plaintiff or the defendant has more convincing evidence will win the case. A young boy will …show more content…
Juror eight opened the minds of the others by telling them how the boy”had been kicked around his whole, life. You know living in a slum. His mother dead since he was nine. That’s not very good head start. He’s a tough, angry kid. You know why kids get that way? Because we knock them over their head once a day, every day. I think maybe we owe him a few words.” juror eight goes on to explain how this boy had a hard life and if he did commit this crime he might have done it with reason. Now a hard life did not constitute the boy to kill his father but it may have given him motive to kill his father. We know that he was charged with first degree murder. Simply because he had bought his pocket knife days before the murder. “But as we the jury have talked about it many people own the kind of pocket knife yesterday. Why yes one of our very own jurors happens to own the same knife.” Juror eight is able to prove to everyone that we should not to so quick to judge. As all the facts were placed on the table it showed how by further looking into and embracing new ideas of what could have happen the opend the case to have a birds eye view. To be able to see more than just a poor boy who killed his fathr for
Reasonable doubt plays a significant role in this particular case, as it requires a standard of unsurpassable evidence in order to be able to convict the plaintiff in a criminal proceeding. This is required under the Due Process Section in the Fifth Amendment of the American Constitution, allowing a safeguard and circumvention
Twelve Angry Men, is a play written by Reginald Rose. The play is about the process of individuals and a court case, which is determining the fate of a teenager. It presents the themes of justice, independence and ignorance. Rose emphasises these three themes through the characters and the dialogue. Justice is the principle of moral rightness or equity. This is shown through juror number eight who isn’t sure whether or not the boy is actually innocent or guilty, but he persists to ask questions and convinces the other jurors to think about the facts first. Independence is shown through both juror number three and ten. They both believe that the defendant is guilty until they both realise that they can not relate there past experiences with the court case. Ignorance is shown throughout all the jurors during the play, it is also brought out through the setting of the play.
Reasonable doubt is defined “as uncertainty as to the guilt of a criminal defendant.” This ideology has been the basis for justice systems in many modern countries for centuries. A panel of twelve men and women who have the immense responsibility of choosing the fate for one person. This principle is the basis for Reginald Rose’s satire, Twelve Angry Men. A play that describes the scene of a New York jury room, where twelve men have to decide between life and death for a inner-city teen, charged with killing his father. These jurors have to sift through the facts and the fiction to uncover the truth about the case and some truths about themselves. Reginald Rose outlines through the actions of juror number three, that no matter the consequences,
Guilty or not guilty? This the key question during the murder trial of a young man accused of fatally stabbing his father. The play 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, introduces to the audience twelve members of a jury made up of contrasting men from various backgrounds. One of the most critical elements of the play is how the personalities and experiences of these men influence their initial majority vote of guilty. Three of the most influential members include juror #3, juror #10, and juror #11. Their past experiences and personal bias determine their thoughts and opinions on the case. Therefore, how a person feels inside is reflected in his/her thoughts, opinions, and behavior.
However, in Twelve Angry Men, Juror Eight defies prejudices in his own beliefs, and eventually in the final verdict. When the eleven jurors are asking the Eighth Juror why he voted “not guilty”, he responds with “It’s just that we’re talking about somebody’s life here. I mean, we can’t decide in five minutes. Suppose we’re wrong?” (12). Even if the Eighth Juror may think that the boy might have actually killed his father, doesn’t mean he did just because the boy grew up in the slums and is a tough kid. No matter where the boy is from or what he looks like, his life is on the line. Thus, don’t jump to conclusions too quickly. Later on, when the jurors are talking about the knife that the boy had, Juror Eight was “saying it’s possible that the boy lost the knife and that someone else stabbed his father with a similar knife.” (22). Just because a violent boy who grew up in a violent family had a knife, doesn’t necessarily mean he is guilty of murder. Thus, things may not always be the way they seem, so don’t judge a book by its
The problem that has been tormenting the eight juror is that no other jurors, other then the fifth juror agree with him. The eight juror claims that the boy is not guilty, but since everyone believes that he committed the murder, he has to convince them that he's right. Everyone is also accusing him for his opinion, which is making him frustrated.
Twelve angry men is a play about twelve jurors who have to decide if the defendant is guilty of murdering his father, the play consist of many themes including prejudice, intolerance, justice , and courage. The play begins with a judge explaining to the jurors their job and how in order for the boy to be sent to death the vote must be unanimous. The jurors are then locked into a small room on a hot summer day. At first, it seems as though the verdict is obvious until juror eight decides to vote not guilty. From that moment on, the characters begin to show their true colors. Some of the characters appear to be biased and prejudice while others just want justice and the truth. Twelve Angry Men Despite many of the negative qualities we see
In the film “12 Angry Men”, several critical thinking skills are imposed in attempts to persuade the members of the jury to believe that the suspect is guilty or not guilty. To begin with, the word choice used in the film seems to be ambiguous in which the words used could have two completely different meanings. For example, a juror in the movie believes that the suspect is guilty all because he claims that “the way they are by nature” or “they are all alike”. This phrase is very vague without having a clear definition, meaning that it can be misinterpreted by others. These faulty statements don’t prove a point in regards to finding whether or not the defendant is guilty, as it is misleading.
This movie goes to show how such crucial facts and minuet evidence if not processed fully and clearly can change the outcome in such a big way. In this jury you have 12 men from all different walks of life, 12 different times, and 12 different personalities. Who have an obligation to come to one conclusion and that's whether or not the young man on trial is guilty of murdering his father or is innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. Under much frustration and lack of patience these 12 men began to get unruly and unfocused. Throughout this distraction key terms get misused, facts get turned around and more importantly emotions start to cross making it hard for these men to produce a verdict.
... believed in the innocence of the young man and convinced the others to view the evidence and examine the true events that occurred. He struggled with the other jurors because he became the deviant one in the group, not willing to follow along with the rest. His reasoning and his need to examine things prevailed because one by one, the jurors started to see his perspective and they voted not guilty. Some jurors were not convinced, no matter how much evidence was there, especially Juror #3. His issues with his son affected his decision-making but in the end, he only examined the evidence and concluded that the young man was not guilty.
These two jurors are almost the plain opposite of each other. Juror 3 appears to be a very intolerant man accustomed of forcing his wishes and views upon others. On the other hand, Juror 8 is an honest man who keeps an open mind for both evidence and reasonable doubt. Since these two people are indeed very different, they both have singular thoughts relating to the murder case. Juror 8 is a man who is loyal to justice. In the beginning of the play, he was the only one to vote ‘not guilty’ the first time the twelve men called a vote. Although his personality is reflected on being a quiet, thoughtful, gentle man, he is still a very persistent person who will fight for justice to be done. Juror 8 is a convincing man who presents his arguments well, but can also be seen as manipulative. An example would be when he kept provoking Juror 3 until he finally said “I’m going to kill you" to Juror 8. He did this because he wanted to prove that saying "I’ll kill you" doesn’t necessarily mean that Juror 3 was actually going to kill him. Juror 3 is a totally different character. He is a stubborn man who can be detected with a streak of sad...
The jurors had several conflicts in disagreeing with each other and it didn't help that they would shout over one another. The very first conflict is when juror 8 voted not guilty against the 11 guilty votes. The other 11 jurors don't seem to want to hear this man out; they don't want to hear why he has voted not guilty. Some of these men, jurors 3 and 7, just want to get this case over with so they can get on with their lives. They don't think it is imperative enough to look over the evidence and put themselves in the place of the defendant. They get upset with this man and try to get him to vote guilty.
The film tells the story of twelve jurors who must come to a conviction on a murder case. Before the jurors leave to come to a verdict, the judge reminds them that their decision must be unanimous or a hung jury will be the result. The judge also tells them that if anyone has any “reasonable doubt,” he should vote “not guilty.” When they congregate, the jury votes almost immediately. Every juror votes “guilty” except for Juror 8, Henry Fonda. The film shows
Twelve Angry Men brings up a few issues the criminal justice system has. The jury selection is where issue number one arises. “A jury of one’s peer’s acts as an important check in cases where a defendant fears that the local justice system may have a prejudice against him, or in corruption cases in which the judiciary itself may be implicated” (Ryan). Deciding one 's future or even fate, in this case, is no easy task, as depicted by the 8th juror.
Juror 3’s relationship to his son, influenced him to believe that if he could hit his dad, he could easily kill him. “Juror #3: Aah. When he was nine years old he ran away from a fight. I saw it; I was so embarrassed I almost threw up. I said, "I'm gonna make a man outa you if I have to break you in two tryin'". And I made a man out of him. When he was sixteen we had a fight. Hit me in the jaw - a big kid. Haven't seen him for two years.” Juror 7 has an obvious hidden agenda. He doesn’t actually seems to care about the boy’s life, and the decision that’s made. He felt convinced with himself that he thought he was guilty, and he didn’t want to waste any more time on that, and simply go to his baseball game. As the movie continues, it shows almost everyone was against Juror 8, but slowly, and slowly, they all begin to agree. The vote was again, 11-1, but this time, it was Juror 3 that was left alone with the empty vote of being the only with guilty. He stands his ground for a pretty strong amount of time, and rather just has a hung jury. I don’t really understand what he rambles on about towards the end, but he finally says, his vote is not